Dispensing device



March Z2, 1938. F. T. RABI-:Ns ET AL 2,111,730

DISPENSING DEVICE Filed May 20, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheetl March 22, 1938. vF, T RABENS ET AL 2,111,730

D SPENSING DEVICE Filed May 2p, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 y MMW- 'm PatentedMar. 22, 1938 i UNirD STATES PfA'l-fla:N1'` opweg-:

l msPENsrNG DEV-lcs y Fred T. Rabens and George P. Wild,

St. Paul Minn Application May 20, 1937, Serial N0. 143,719

6 Claims.

This invention relates to article handling mechanism and moreparticularly to mechanism for handling substantially cylindricalarticles that have more or less flatbottom surfaces.

-It is an object of the invention to provide article handling mechanismin the form of a bottle or other container dispensing apparatus in whichthe container is moved along a substantially smooth supporting surfacetoward a discharging shoot or other discharge element. In carrying outthis object we have provided means whereby Asubstantially flat bottomcylindrical articles are moved along a stationary relatively smoothsurface with the articles disposed kat an angle to said surface wherebythey will describe a rolling movement as they are propelled by'asuitable propelling and engaging means, which engaging means looselycontacts the articles being moved.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simply constructed andhighly ecient mechanism f or moving said articles with a step by stepmotion and properly 'positioning them with respect to the dischargemeans.

A still further.V object of the invention is to apply these features toa dispensing mechanism such as may be used for dispensing bottledliquids as milk or beverages of various kinds.

'I'hesekand other objects and advantages of the invention will morefully appear from the following description made in connection with theaccompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to'thesame or similar parts throughout the views and, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a dispensing machine with the outercasing and portion of the mechanism broken away and in section;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;. l

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a section taken approximately on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings We have shown a casing which includes a frame Workindicated generally at 5 and which is covered with av suitable`insulating layer Ii. 'Ihe particular structure of the frame Work andinsulation is of no importance in this invention. It will be noted that.in Fig. 1 there are illustrated two dispensing assemblies but in vthisdescription reference will be made to the structure of a singleassembly, it, of course, being understood that the described parts ofone assembly are duplicated in the other assembly.

We have providedabottle supporting element on trackway 1 which issuspended within the 'frame work 5 by means of straps 1a extendedinwardly from the corner of said'frame work and are secured to saidtrackway by rivets or any other suitable fastening means. It will benoted that the main surface of the trackway is at a slight angle fromthe horizontal. In the particular embodiment shown this main surface isplaced at an angle so that the bottles being dispensed will be atsubstantially the proper angle for dropping l0 them down the dispensingchute which will be described later. The inner edge of this trackway isprovided with an upturned portion 8 which acts as a guard to prevent thebottles-from slipping too far inwardly and out'of their correctposition.

Extending vertically through the center of the frame work and thecircular trackway 1-is a shaft III which is mounted in a socket I I atits lower end and secured by a similar socket I2 at'its upper end. Acollar I3 is suitably secured to said shaft and this collar supports thecentral portion of a spider like assembly I4 whose radial arms I5 engagethe underside of a circular rotary engaging and moving assembly I6. Thearms I5 may be secured to the bottle engaging assembly by rivets,

l bolts or other suitable connection element. The .rotary assembly I6 isprovided with a plurality of openings I1 and extending upwardly, aroundthe edges of these openings there are provided inwardly cylindricalbottle engaging saddles I8. As shown in Figs. 1 and-3 these saddles aretaller at their inner portions to provide an adequate lateral supportfor the bottles 9, and the angle of the saddles will keep the bottles atthe proper angle relative to the surface of the Supporting trackway 1.As best illustrated in Fig. 1 the bottle 9 is leaning at such an anglethat only the inner portion of its inner surface is in contact with therelatively smooth surface of the stationary trackway 1. The assembly I8is rotatably mounted upon the shaft I0 and movement of the bottleprogressing assembly I6 will cause the bottles to describe a rollingmotion with respect to trackway 1. If the bottles rest flatly againstthe surface of the trackway it would be necessary to slide them alongthe surface of said trackway, an operation'which would requireconsiderable force if the rack or progressing assembly I6 was loadedwith bottles. In addition the rolling action produced in my constructiongreatly reduces the wear on the trackway. It should be remembered thatthe saddle elements I8 and openings I1 should be sufliciently large withrespect to the bottles that they will permit relatively free rotationofthe 2121 (..xzi

bottles within the saddles. it the same time the saddles cannot be toolarge for if they were the bottles would not be held in proper angularposition relative to the tracltway.

Around the outer edge of the rotatable assembly i3, we have provided aplurality of. teeth i3 whose forward edges are slanting and whose rearedges are preferably abrupt to provide abutments which may be contactedby a pawl element 20. This pawl element is pivoted at 2| to the outerend of arm 22 whose inner end merges into a hub element 28, the latterbeing rotatable upon the vertical shaft IIJ. A spring 24 constantlyurges the pawl 20 inwardly toward the edge of the rotatable assembly I6. Some distancearound the edge of the circular rotatable assembly I6 isthe end 25 of an arm 26 which radiates from the hub 26a which is belowthe hub to which the pawl supporting arm 22 is connected, and is securedto the stationary shaft i3. The outer end of the arm 26 carries a springpawl arrangement 21 similar to the pawl 20 and spring 24 describedabove. 'I'his spring and pawl arrangement is provided to act as a stopelement to prevent the rotary carrier assembly I6 from turning in acounterclockwise direction when the operating levers move the pawl 20back to engage a tooth I9 prior to operation for another delivery oi oneof the bottles.

Also connected to the outer end of the arm 22 is a connecting link 28which is preferably provided With a ball and socket connection with saidarm, and the opposite end of the link 28 has a ball and socketconnection with an upwardly extending lever 29 said lever being normallyheld in the position shown in Fig. 4 under the iniiuence of the spring29a, the lever extending downwardly to a stub shaft 30. This shaftextending outwardly through a supporting plate 3i, which forms a part ofthe outer casing and is mounted for movement in a suitable journal 32.The outer end of the shaft has rigidly secured thereto, an operatinglever 33. If desired a pair of adjustable stops 34 may be provided forlimiting the rocking movement of the shaft 30 and the lever arm 29 whichmoves therewith. i

Rigidly connected to the lever arm 23 below the shaft 30 is a cam likelocking element 35 which has a at abutment surface 36. Pivotally mountedat 31a is a locking bar 31 whose end next the cam like element 35 isnormally held up by a tension spring 33, the spring being connected to ahorizontal cross member 39 which constitutes a part of the frame work.The end of the locking bar 31 adjacent the cam like element 35 isprovided with a locking pin 40 which is adapted to normally engage theabutment 36 on said cam like element. A stop pin 4I at the opposite endof the locking bar 31 limits its movement under the influence of thespring 38. A coin chute 42 has an inlet 33 at its upper end, and anoutlet at the lower end thereof which communicates with a coin receivingpocket M. The spring 33 has suiicient tension to hold the locking bar 31in the full line position shown in Fig. 4, but when a coin is introducedinto the slot 43 it will roll into the pocket 44 with its weight bearingupon the locking arm 31, and the weight of the coin will overcome theaction of the spring 38 and cause said locking arm to drop to the dottedline position shown in Fig. 4, the locking pin 40 being then out ofengagement with the abutment 36 on the cam shaped element 35 and theoperating lever 33 may then be operated and its motion transmittedthrough the lever arm 29 and connecting link 28 to progress therotatable bottle engaging assembly i Operation of the operating leverand the lever arm 23 cause s aid cam element 35 to engage the lockingpin on the round surface of said cam element and further urge thelocking arm 31 downwardly until the coin is free to drop into the coinreceptacle t5, therefor when the operating lever 33 is returned to itsstarting position, the locking arm' 31 and pin it will be -drawnupwardly by the spring 33 into locking position.

If the rotatable assembly I6 is progressed by the lever mechanism justdescribed it will cause the bottles engaged by the assembly I6 to rollaround the trackway 1 and the leading bottle will be brought up againstthe stop 46, which will register the bottle with a discharge opening 41.Thereupon the bottle will drop down the slanting discharge chute 48 andbe received by a suitable cushion pad 49 at the bottom of the shoot. Forthe purpose of preventing warm air from flowing into, the dischargeopening 41, we have provided a pivoted trap door 50, which normallycovers said opening. VThis door is pivoted at 5i and provided with aspring element 52 to hold it closed under tension. An opening 53 permitsremoval of the bottle from the apparatus. In the earlier part of thedescription the trackway 1 was stated to be placed at an angle. It willnow be seen that this angle position is provided to align the bottlesproperly with the slanting discharge shoot 48, and we have placed theshoot on a slant to retard the fall of the bottles at least to someextent.

Any suitable means may be provided for refrigerating thearticles Withinthe dispensing apparatus if the articles are such that they should besold in cooled condition. Therefore, we have shown generally a circularice pan Eli which may be mounted upon the shaft I il in any suitablemanner. Furthermore a drain cock 55 may be utilized for draining waterfrom the ice pan.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that we have provided ahighly efficient mechanism for moving and progressively dispensingbottled beverages or other articles which are substantially cylindricalin shape and which have more or less fiat bottoms. It can readily beseen that there is much less force required to move the bottles aroundthe trackway 1 when they are supported at an angle so that only aportion of the rounded bottoms of the articles are in contact with thetrackway and the described rounding movement around said trackway. Wehave also provided an insulated cabinet structure and dischargemechanism which will safely discharge the articles Without danger ofbreakage.

It will be seen by Fig. 1 we have duplicated the entire assembly so thatdifferent types or sizes of articles may be dispensed from one machine.Of

course, several of these assemblies can be incorported in a singleinsulated outer cabinet.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various partswithout departing from the scope of our invention.

What is claimed isz- 1. A device for handling substantially cylindricalarticles having relatively flat bottoms comprising a support, andarticle engaging and moving means above said support, said lastmentioned means being constructed to hold said articles at an angle tosaid support whereby only a small portion of the bottoms of saidarticles will engage said support.

2. A device for handling substantially cylinu drical articles havingrelatively flat bottoms comprising a trackway along which articles aremoved, said trackway having a substantially smooth article supportingsurface, and means `mounted above said trackway for engaging and movingsaid articles along the trackway, said engaging and moving means beingconstructed to hold said articles at an angle to permit con;

tact of only a limited portion of the lower sur-- faces of said articleswith said trackway.

3. A device for handnng substantially cylindrical articles havingrelatively at bottoms comprising a circular trackway lhaving a dischargeopening at one point therein, a stop element v adjacent said opening,- arotatable carrier assembly mounted above said trackway and having aplurality of article receiving openings therein, article engaging andsupporting saddles cooperating with said openings, the longitudinal axesoi said saddles beingat a slight angle to the surface of said trackwaywhereby said articles will rest upon said trackway at a slight angle 3dles about said openings adapted to hold said articles 'at a slightangle to said trackway, means for progressing said assembly relative tosaid Vtrackway whereby said articles will be moved alongsaid trackway tosaid discharge opening, and a discharge chute intoiiwhich said articleswill drop when they have been progressed to said discharge opening.

5. A device for handling substantially cylindrical `articles havingrelatively at bottoms comprising" a circular trackway whose main surfaceis disposed at an angle to the horizontal and whose lower edge isprovided with an upturned portion, said trackway having a dischargeopening therein, a discharge chute extending downwardly from saiddischarge opening, a carrier as` sembly rotatably mounted above saidtrackway, said assembly having a plurality of openings which may beprogressively aligned with said discharge opening, and saddles aroundsaid openings, the longitudinal axes of said saddles being at a slightangle to the angle of the main portion of said trackway andsubstantially in alignment with said discharge chute, and means i'orrotating said carrier assembly with a step by step movement to bringsaid openings and saddles successfully into registration with thedischarge opening and said trackway.

6. The structure in claim 5 and said trackway having a. rounded articlestop element at the far side of said discharge opening to align saidarticles with said openings.'

FRED T. RABENS. GEORGE P. WILD.

